Google and the ACCI team up to get more businesses online

19th March 2015

Internet search giant Google and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) have announced they are collaborating to help more small businesses in Australia get online.

Minister for Small Business Bruce Billson, along with John Ball, the head of small business at Google Australia, and Kate Carnell, the CEO of the ACCI, launched the roadshow in Frankston last week to promote the drive to get businesses online and accessible to customers around the globe.

More than fifty local business owners were present for the launch that will see the roadshow stop in five cities across Australia. Google also said it plans to reach the 350,000 small business owners in Australia with its network of more than 2,000 web specialists. They hope by reaching them, they will help local businesses to better understand how to build their online profile, market themselves to new customers and even become more prominent on Google Maps.

According to Mr Ball, small businesses account for around a third of Australia's private sector economy. The opportunities going online will offer are huge, and will be the key driver of growth of the Australian economy into the future.

A report released by the Treasury on the same day, underlined the benefits for business of going online. It found that the internet was "levelling the playing field for smaller businesses", and that cloud computing and nationwide marketing are allowing them to compete with their larger rivals who traditionally had greater resources to crowd them out of the market.

"The internet provides small businesses with the unprecedented ability to reach more customers and achieve greater efficiency in ways that until recently were only available to their larger competitors," said Ms Carnell of the ACCI.

Small businesses looking to migrate online should consider investing in online retail management software that will let them manage their customers more effectively and help transform their online business.